Relaxing with lightning?

Heavy rain. Loud thunder. The occasional bolt of lightning. Bright sunshine. Cloudy with sunny intervals. Cloudy. Heavy rain. Loud thunder. The occasional — yes, this is how the weather has been here this afternoon. And the heavy rain was heavy. Absolutely fabulous!

I don’t think that there is anything as refreshing as a heavy downpour of rain during summer. Being a hay fever sufferer, I find it easier to breathe during the rain, and just after. I can smell the fabulous earthy smells that are churned up as the raindrops lash down the ground with ferocious intent. The air seems more chilled, and especially during a thunder storm, more charged.

I didn’t see too much lightning today. In fact, I didn’t see enough! I could hear the distant rumbles of thunder, and the claps that were overhead, but I seemed to have missed the lightning for some reason. Even when I was swimming this evening, I could hear the rain outside the pool over the splashing of the water in the pool. I could hear the thunder too, but again didn’t notice any lightning. I saw one quick flash when I got home, but that was it.

My favourite type of lightning is fork lightning. The way how it streaks across the sky, or from earth to sky or the other way around is breathtaking. The crackles of electricity that can be heard can be shocking (should really apologise for the ‘pun’ here, but I won’t). I remember one night, we were having a very heavy snow storm, and outside the window there was one fork of lightning. It looked pink against the white of the snow and the grey of the sky. I only saw it once that day too…

I saw some photos the other month of when the volcano in Iceland, Eyjafjallajökull, was erupting, and it was surrounded by lightning, which just goes to show the amount of energy that is created when these eruptions occur. This photo is one I have just found on the web, although it isn’t the one I saw a while back. Still, it’s very impressive:

Speaking of the volcano, it’s hard to imagine how much of an impact the eruption had on everyone, especially the chaos that was caused when the planes were grounded. Hard to imagine, but easy to remember, I hasten to add. It just goes to show the power that the natural world has, and when she really wants to, Mother Nature will give us just a glimpse of that power.

And why not? It’s her environment too and if she wants to make a few changes or stir things up a bit she is entitled to go ahead and do it. The only thing is there is nobody who can stop her when she really lets loose, but she does bring things back to normal in her own time. There’s no rush for nature, whatever it is doing.

Looking at nature, watching anything natural, is very relaxing, and a very easy way to clear your mind of any negative thoughts you may be carrying with you. A word of advice, however, don’t go to an erupting volcano if you want to relax… sit back and watch it on the TV in the safety of your own home.